Building construction



June 28, 1960 c. w. JACKSON BUILDING CONSTRUCTION 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 1, 1957 Gwen/cf. 4060 ZBA% ATTOBIVE June 28,1960 c. w. JACKSON 2,942,454 7 BUILDING cousmucnou Filed July 1, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 28, 1960 c. w. JACKS ON 2,942,454

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed July 1, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. Cl/IEENCE W. JFKKSON KITTORNE llnite States This invention relates to concrete building construction, and it has reference more particularly to the use of preformed concrete units of specific forms, and embodying certain novel details or features of construction which adapt them for specific conjoint uses in the building of cylindrically curved walls such as those employed, for example, in the construction of auditoriums and the like, liquid storage tanks, granaries, settling basins, silos and various other circular enclosures; and also useful for the building of solid or hollow columns of various diameters.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide for the economical and expeditious construction of cylindrically curved concrete walls by the employment of pre-cast concrete units of the novel forms herein described; these units being laid up in courses, with their adjoining edges interfitted and interlocked in weather tight joints without the use of mortar or other joint sealing material.

It is afurther object of the present invention to provide concrete building units of two novel forms, to be used conjointly for the present wall construction; the units of both forms embodying the same novel features ordetails of construction, but being designed for use, respectively, for the building of the inside and outside surface forming portions ;of a hollow or cavity wall structure which is made solid by filling it with concrete; the finished wall having concentric, cylindrically curved inside and outside surfaces.

It is also an object of the present invention to make provision for the cross-tie joining of the opposite surface forming portions or what may be designated as the shells of the wall structure, as the units thereof are laid up, thus to give the structure rigidity and to sustain the surface portions or shells against spreading under the weight of the cavity filling concrete before it sets.

Explanatory to the present invention, it will here be noted that in a co-pending application, filed on December 3, 1956, under Serial No. 625,861, I described and illustrated the use of precast rectangular concrete units .of slab .form for the building of straight Walls. In a subsequent application, filed under Serial No. 646,734 on March 18, 1957, I illustrated and described a machine especially designed for the high speed manufacture of such concrete .-units; these units being characterized by certain joining edge formations that provide for their being laid up, end to end, in courses, and in tight, interfitted and interlocked joints, not requiring mortar or other materials to make them weather tight.

The first of the above mentioned co-pending applications illustrated the use of the concrete units as therein described, for the construction of a straight cavity wall structure embodying inside and outside form defining walls or shells; these walls being rigidly joined in spaced relationship by cross-ties in order to maintain their relationship and to define a cavity or space between them that, as the building progresses, may or may not be filled concrete, depending upon desires, uses or require- .ments. One of the great advantages of constructing a 2 solid concrete wall by the use of precast concrete units in accordance with the teaching of the first of the above mentioned application, resides in the fact that the gh cost, the great amount of work and the loss ofthheidvolved in-the building of wooden or other types of; forms is eliminated.

The present invention utilizes the basic ideas of the previously mentioned co-pending applications, and in addition, it has for one of its primary objects to utilize their teachings, as applied to the making of straight walls in the formation and use of concrete units designedlespecially for the erection of circular walls. 'v v The present invention is concerned primarily with the invention taking into consideration the intertitting of the joining edges of curved units as laid end to end in the same course; the interfitting andinterlocking of thehorizontal edges of units of adjacent courses of a wall; the relationship and design of units as applied to form the inside and outside shells of the wall, and in the provision of means for the joining or tying together-of the spaced form defining shells as constructed of the present units. It further contemplates and provides for use of cross-tie members, which are like, and are used; in the same manner as those disclosed in the application filed under Serial No. 625,86l,-for the tying together of the inside ,and outside shells and for the interlocking of courses to adapt the hollow wall structure for receiving a fluid concrete filling.

Still further objects of the present'invention reside in the details 'of' construction of the present units as provided for the building of circular wall structures, and in the manner of their assembly and joining, reparatory to receiving the cavity filling concrete. Y

In accomplishing the above mentioned and other-ob,- jects of the invention, I have provided the improved details of construction, the preferred forms of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1,is a perspective, view of a partially finished circular wall structure embodying precast concrete ,unit s made and assembled in accordance-with the teaching .of,

showing the application of cross-ties that join thesesliel'ls in rigid spacing.

Fig. 3. is a vertical section of the wall as seen online 3-3 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of .one of the unitsiof the outside shell, showing the inside or fiat surface thereof. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of of one of the units :of the inside shell as seen from the curved side thereof.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal cross-section of aicolumn constructed of concrete units in accordance with-the teaching of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a concrete unit, corresponding to that of Fig. 4 but equipped with an alternative form of interlocking tongue. 1

Fig. 8 is a perspective view 'of one of-the cross-tie memthus to conform to the character and form of the units as shown in the earliest of the previously mentioned ap-' V plications, and .to their manufacture as described the second of theapplications. In these applications'the units were described as having a lengthequal to twice their height; the dimensions specifically mentioned therein being eight inches high andsixteen inches long.

Furthermore, most structures which will be made according to the present teaching will be of quite substantial diameter, except as applied to column construction as in Fig. 6. However, in the present drawings, structures of relatively small diameter have been shown in order that the features of construction of units and their assembled relationship mightbe better emphasized.

It is not the intent that the units be restricted as to size, proportion or degree of curvature so long as they are not inconsistent with the objects and advantages of the invention as herein set forth.

Referring more in detail to the drawings:

The present wall structure is similar to that disclosed in my co-pending application filed under Serial No. 625,861, to the extent that it comprises the building up of spaced form defining walls or shells from precast concrete units; the tying together of the spaced walls and, if desired, the filing of the space between them with concrete. It differs from the teaching and disclosures of that application in that the units from which the inside wall is made different in shape and-size from those from which the outside wall is made, and also in that the flat inside surfaces of units of the successive courses, as laid up in these walls, bear a certain angular relationship to each other and are so equipped with anchor devices that the present form of cross-ties may be so applied as to efiect an interlock between courses of the same wall as well as to join and definitely space the form defining walls.

In the circular structure shown in Figs. 1 and 2, designates the inside form defining wall in its entirety and '11 designates the outside form defining wall in its entirety. For easier reference, these walls already have been and will 'hereinafterbe referred to, respectively, as the inside shell and outside shell." Both shells are built up of concrete units of the same height, laid end to end in horizontal courses as shown in Fig. 1. The concrete units employed for the building of the inside shell are as seen in Fig. 5, and each is designated in its entirety by reference numeral 12. Units employed for the building of the outside shell are as seen in Fig. 4, and each is designated in its entirely by reference numeral 13. The shells 10 and 11 are concentric and as they are built up, corresponding units thereof are rigidly joined in spaced relationship by cross-ties 15, as presently explained in detail, and as building progresses, if a solid wall is desired, the space between shells is filled with concrete; such a filling being designated in Figs. 1 and 3 by numeral 16.

It is further anticipated that, if desired or required, reinforcing rods shall be used in the individual units and also used in the concrete filling between the shells of the wall structure, in the same manner as illustrated and described in my previously mentioned application filed under Serial No. 625,861. In Fig. 2, such reinforcing members as used in the concrete filling are designated by reference numeral 20.

It is anticipated that in the molding of the present concrete units, a method of manufacture like or similar to that explained in my co-pending application filed under Serial No. 646,734, or other methods can be employed. The method of manufacture as set out in my co-pending application contemplates the filling of special molds with the selected aggregate; the compacting of the aggregate in the molds and then allowing it to set or harden.

The outer surfaces of the longer outside shell units 13 are of cylindrical curvature; their inside surfaces are flat: their top and bottom surfaces are fiat and horizontal and their opposite end surfaces are formed in vertical planes that are radial of the center of curvature of the cylindrically curved surfaces.

The units 12 which form the inside shell have their exposed surfaces cylindrically curved; their opposite surfaces are flat; their top and lower surfaces are horizontal .4 and their end surfaces lie in vertical planes that are radial of the axial center of curvature of the exposed surfaces. In further reference to these latter units, their curved surfaces will be referred to as their inside surfaces. When units are arranged in wall forming courses as in Fig. l, the outside and inside shells 10 and 11 as formed thereby are concentric. The thickness of the wall formed by the spaced shells determines the relative lengths of the inside and outside units, their lengths being in the same proportion as the radial distances of their curved surface from the center of curvature. That is, if the curved outer surface of the outside shell measures ten feet from the center of curvature and the units therein are each twenty inches long, and the inwardly facing curved surface of the inside shell measures nine feet from the center of curvature, the length of each of its units will be eighteen inches. Thus, units of courses of inside and outside shells that are at the same horizontal level, can be kept in radial alignment as is required for the proper and intended application of the cross-ties 15 to the anchoring means as presently explained.

In the laying up of successive courses of units to build up the inside and outside shells, the vertical joints between units in each course are located exactly midway of joints of next lower course; that also being a requirement for proper application of the cross-tie members.

It is further to be explained that all units are of the same vertical height and each is provided for the making of either shell, is formed along its top surface from end to end, with a tongue or rib 30; this being formed about the same center of curvature as that about which the curved surface of the unit is formed. Likewise, each 'unit is formed from end to end on its under surface with a similarly curved groove 31 adapted, when the units are laid in a wall, to receive therein the tongues 30 of units of the next lower course. Also, each unit is formed on one end surface with a vertical rib 32 and at its opposite end with a vertical groove 33. In the assembly of units end to end and in courses, the grooves receive therein the ribs of adjacent units to form the weather tight joints.

Each unit also is formed at the inside of the tongue on its top edge, at distances equal to one fourth its length from each end, with upwardly projecting V-shaped lugs 3636, and at the inside of its end tongue 32, midway of its top and lower edge, is formed with a V-shaped lug 37. Likewise the units are formed at similar locations on their lower edge surfaces and the other end surface, respectively, with V-shaped notches 38-38 and 39, adapted to seat the lugs 36--36 and 37 of adjoining units therein as means for effecting a desired exactness in the assembly of the units and to serve in the maintaining of their proper relationship in successive courses. The same modular arrangement and location of lugs and recesses is used in the present units as disclosed in my previously mentioned, application filed under Serial No. 625,861.

Each unit is also provided on its inside surface, near to and equally spaced from its top and lower edge surfaces as seen in Figs. 3 and 4, with projecting anchor loops 40; these preferably being formed, as in Fig. 3, as parts of reinforcing rods that are embedded in the units. These anchor loops are all of the same diameter and are all equally spaced from the horizontal and vertical edges of the unit. The distance of these loops from the end edges of the units is equal to one-fourth the width of the flat inside surface of the unit. Thus, in the building up of successive courses of units in both shells as previously explained, the adjacent anchor loops in units of adjacent courses will be in vertical alignment to receive legs of the cross-ties 15 aswill now be explained.

The cross-ties 15 are as disclosed in Fig. 8. Each is formed from a single rod with opposite end portions 15 thereof bent in the same direction at a right angle to the rod. The rods are of an exact, predetermined diameter, andof an exact length as measured between their opposite end legs, and as the shells are built up, the legs of S the cross-ties are applied downwardly through anchor loops of units in the inside and outside shells as has been shown in Fig. 3.

It is preferred that the legs of the cross-ties be extended through adjacent aligned anchor loops of adjacent courses so that the cross-ties not only space the shells evenly a predetermined distance, but also serve to interlock the units in adjacent courses in flush vertical align meat.

It is also a feature of the present invention that the legs of the cross-ties fit within the anchor loops snugly and without looseness, and that after they have been applied, they be tack welded thereto. When reinforcing rods as designated by numeral 2%) are applied to the wall cavity, these rods also will be tack welded to the anchor loops or cross-ties as was explained in my first mentioned co-pending application.

In the making of concrete units like that of the alternative form shown in Fig. 7, the tongues and grooves, as extended along the top and bottom surfaces, respectively, are not curved about the center of curvature of the curved surfaces of the units but are made straight from the ends of the units to their medial vertical planes. Thus, their opposite end portions will have an angular relationship, as illustrated. When these alternative units are laid up in courses, the adjacent end portions of tongues of adjacent units in a lower course will be received in the angular channel in the bottom surfaces of the units of the next upper course. In this way, an interlock is effected and the same relationship of superimposed units is eifected as by use of the interfitted lugs and notches.

In the making of columns, as illustrated in Fig. 6, only outside units 13'are employed. These are arranged end to end in circular courses about a vertical axial line. Units in the courses at diametrically located points of the column are joined by cross-ties 15 as shown. After several courses have been laid up, the cavity can be filled with concrete. Reinforcing rods within the column may or may not be employed, depending on requirements.

The procedure in erecting a circular structure as indicated in Fig. 1, from concrete units of the kind shown is to first prepare a suitable footing or foundation, then to assemble and lay up the first inside and outside course in the exact predetermined spacing as measured between the curved inside and outside surfaces of the shells. In laying the first courses, the joints between units of the inside and outside shells are brought exactly into radial alignment. Cross-ties are then applied between the lower edges of the courses. Then in the laying of each successive course, the vertical joints thereof are located midway of the vertical joints between units of the next lower course. The required exactness in the laying of units is made easy by reason of the interfitting tongues and grooves and by the interfitting of lugs and notches of adjoining units in successive courses.

It will be understood particularly by reference to Fig. 2, that anchor loops 40 of the units will be automatically brought into exact vertical alignment along the lines of intersection of the planes of the flat inside surfaces of the units. As courses are laid up, the cross-ties 15 are applied by projecting their opposite leg portions downwardly through aligned anchor loops of adjacent courses. After the cross-ties have been applied, rigidity is added to the structure either by tack welding the rods to the loops or by use of wire ties for holding the parts in fixed relationship. Cross-ties also may be secured against displacement by bending their lower end portions inwardly and upwardly against the loops as at 15x in Fig. 3.

Vertical reinforcing rods are applied as required or as desired in the wall cavity and these also can be fixed by welding to the cross-ties oranchor loops. Also, if desired or required, zig-zag bracing rods, as at can be applied horizontally and tack welded, wired or otherwise fixed to cross-ties or anchors. After the reinforcing has been applied, the wall cavity can be filled with concrete 7 and this is usually done as the shells progress upwardly.

Insofar as the various operations of wall construction are concerned they may be carried on as explained in my application filed under Serial No. 625,861.

What I claim as new is:

1. A cylindrically curved wall constructed of identical, preformed concrete units of rectangular form, laid end to end in horizontal courses, with the units of successive courses equally overlapped with those of the next lower course; each unit having a flat inside surface and having anchor loops fixed therein and extending from said fiat inside surface; said loops, disposed in the vertical lines of intersection of the plane of said inside surface with the planes of the flat inside surfaces of those units with which it overlaps; and rigid tie members extended through and secured in the vertically aligned loops across the horizontal joints between courses.

2. The wall structure of claim 1 wherein said units are formed along opposite horizontal edges and along opposite end edges with tongues and grooves inter-fitting units of the same course and the units of next adjacent courses; and wherein said units are formed, at their edges, and at the inside of the tongues and grooves, with positioning lugs and dug receiving recesses, definitely establishing the relative position of one unit, relative to another unit, thus to effect the vertical alignment of the anchor loops with the lines of intersection of the planes of said inside surfaces. 1

3. In a cylindrically curved wall structure having an inside shell and an outside shell; each'shell being constructed of pre-formed units of rectangular form with a flat inside surface; said units being laid in: horizontal courses with the units in each course equally overlapped with those of the next lower course, the corresponding courses of units of said inside and outside shells being at the same levels and containing the same number of units and said units, as applied to corresponding courses of the inside and outside shells having the vertical joints between them in the same radial planes of curvature of the wall structure; said units of both shells having anchor loops embedded therein and projecting from their flat inside surfaces, at upper and lower levels, and with thecorresponding loops of outside and inside shells located in radial alignment, and in the vertical lines of intersection of the planes of said fiat surfaces of units in successive courses, and cross-ties extended between the shells and having vertical legs at their ends applied through vertically aligned anchor loops across the horizontal joints between courses.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 274,022 Overall Mar. 13, 1883 666,347 Gregory Jan. 22, 1901 861,175 Heine July 23, 1907 1,374,356 Clouser Apr. 12, 1921 1,890,532 Skolnik Dec. 13, 1932 2,025,529 'Scudder Dec. 24, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS 313,919 Switzerland July 14, 1956 498,721 Canada Dec. 29, 1953 

